Twitter Partners With American Express On Small Business Ad Program

Twitter has launched a small business advertising program, in partnership with American Express, that will help small-business owners engage with existing and potential customers over the social network. Photo: REUTERS

In an attempt to boost revenue, Twitter continues to push an advertising strategy that's served the company well thus far. The latest development is the launch of a new program for small businesses.

The small business advertising program, a partnership with American Express, allows certain American Express cardholders and merchants to use Twitter's advertising tools to engage more customers on the social network. In short, an enterprise that is linked to an American Express card will be able to do one of two things to promote a product: promote its Twitter account or promote a specific tweet.

If a small business promotes its account, Twitter will review the business's followers on its network and search for people with similar interests. When Twitter finds a match, it will recommend the brand's Twitter page in the "Who To Follow" section of website.

If the small business decides to promote tweets, Twitter will monitor the brand's engagement with customers and will automatically promote its most engaging tweets.

The core idea behind this new program is that the company is not trying to get its users to change their social media business strategies. Rather it is making it easier for brands to place their tweets and accounts in front of the right people at the right time.

Small businesses pay only when someone follows the brand's account or engages in a tweet by clicking "reply," "favorite," or "retweet."

Small-business owners determine how much money they'd like to spend per day or how much they'd like to spend per new engagement or follower. Small-business owners will also be able to determine where, geographically, the tweet shows up. The new service will work on mobile versions of Twitter as well as the standard website.

American Express cardholders can register to become part of the launch program by visiting this website dedicated to it.